How to Select the Best Body Corporate Management Company
Some inexperienced owners of strata property may not be sure about what they should consider when they are selecting a body corporate management company to manage their strata property. This article discusses some issues that you should investigate regarding financial management as you shortlist body corporate management firms.
How Accounts Are Managed
Some body corporate management firms have trust accounts in addition to their business accounts. Such managers may be better than those who don't have a trust account. This separation of accounts makes it easy to trace how the different collections are used.
You should also make sure that you confirm that any interest that may be generated on the trust account is paid back to the owners of the strata property. The annual financial reports can provide this information.
The Magnitude of Audits Performed
Body corporate management companies often control large sums of money. The best body corporate firms usually pay for annual audits by external entities in order to constantly improve how they handle those funds in their care. It is therefore advisable for you to select a body corporate management firm that proves to you that they have a culture of regularly auditing the accounts that they manage. You will then be certain that the company is very serious about matters of financial propriety.
The Relationship Between the Manager and the Body Corporate
The strata property manager usually has a lot of power in the day-to-day affairs of managing the property. For instance, he or she usually prepares and implements the annual budgets for managing or maintaining the strata property. It is therefore good for you to select a body corporate management firm that always draws up detailed contracts for the managers that they assign to the strata properties in their care. Such management contracts spell out the roles and limits of the manager's powers so that the strata property owners get value for their money without any conflicts with the manager.
Selecting a body corporate entity to manage strata property is a serious matter that should never be decided in a hurry. Gather all the necessary information from the companies competing for your business. You can also consult a solicitor who is experienced in these matters so that you can be helped to select the best body corporate management firm. That selected manager will then ensure that the property is well managed so that it retains or even increases in value as time goes by.